American polls are closed: four states are undecided

According to CNN, there remains tension in four states over whether to elect a Democrat or a Republican in the midterm elections. Republicans must win three of the four states if they want to control the Senate.

The House and Senate in America can be compared to the House and Senate in the Netherlands. Democrats led by President Joe Biden held slim majorities in both chambers on the eve of the election.

Five seats

For a majority in the House of Representatives, the Republicans must win five seats from the Democrats, which seems possible. It’s not the savage victory Republicans had hoped for, says Eric Motan, RTL News’ correspondent:

In the Senate, the two parties are pretty close for a guess. If the ratio remains 50 to 50, Democrats will retain the majority because Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris will provide the weighted vote.

Pelosi

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is re-elected. If Republicans regain a majority in the House during these midterms, Pelosi, 82, is expected to step down from her position as House Democratic Party leader.

Since many voters have already voted by mail in recent weeks, it may be hours before the final results are known. In some countries even days.

That’s because in most states, mail-in votes aren’t counted until Election Day itself, often outside of the automated counting process. Nationally, according to the US Elections Project, an estimated 24 million people have voted by mail.

The results of about forty states will probably be known at around 09:00 Dutch time.